In the 42-year-old murder case of Sonja Hurler, the Kempten police took almost half of the saliva samples from men in the area. Investigators called on up to 300 men who lived near the spot where the girl disappeared to provide saliva samples. “We are very satisfied with the response numbers. People are taking part and want to do their part to solve the crime,” said a police spokesman on Wednesday. The police did not name the exact number of men called for investigative reasons; so far 130 have provided a saliva sample.
The girl disappeared in Kempten im Allgäu in 1981 after she walked to her grandmother’s house at night following an argument with her mother. Her body was found three months later under a barn. The police reopened the investigation at the end of November based on new DNA evidence.
According to investigators, several residents heard cries for help from a young girl on the night of the crime. In addition, eyewitnesses observed a group of four to six male youths dragging a girl through the district who was calling for help. “The clear cause of death could never be determined due to the condition of the body. We assume that there was a previous sexual offense,” said Kempten public prosecutor Katrin Eger at a press conference a few weeks ago. The investigators also hoped for new witnesses.